The Ocean View Little League program continues to be one of the strongest in the state, if not the country. Its 2011 Little League World Series victory still resonates locally, since many of those boys have taken their game into high school.

The Huntington Beach High baseball program will hold the second Collin Balester-Hank Conger Giveback Golf Invitational next Monday. The shotgun start is 10:30 a.m. at SeaCliff Country Club (6501 Palm Ave.) in Huntington Beach.
Registration for the...

Ocean View is heading to the Little League World Series.
The 11-12-year-old All-Star Major Baseball team from Huntington Beach won the Western Regional championship in San Bernardino on Saturday night by rallying to defeat Red Bluff of Northern...

Less than 24 hours after winning the Western Regional championship, the Ocean View Majors All-Star team packed its bags and headed out Sunday on its dream summer vacation: a trip to Williamsport, Pa.
It's a road the league, nor any District 62 team,...

My son and I had the pleasure several weeks ago, thanks to the generosity of my friend Mike Taylor from PBS SoCal, to play ball at Angel Stadium of Anaheim with the one-and-only former Angel (and baseball ambassador extraordinaire) Rex Hudler.
With...

Former Angel Rex Hudler's and his wife Jennifer's foundation, Team Up for Down Syndrome, is partnering with the International Surfing Museum to put on an event called "Surf's Up For Down Syndrome" on Feb. 3 at Sandy's Beach Grill and on the sand on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.
The Hudlers first became involved in raising money and helping families who have been affected by Down Syndrome after their son Cade was born with Down Syndrome in 1996.
The event will have beach and surfing...

Scott McCall is no stranger to the water.
The 30-year-old grew up in Huntington Beach. He learned to swim at Pacific Sands Cabana Club with his sisters, Jayme and Megan. But McCall always wanted to surf.
He received some special lessons at the Surf's Up for Down Syndrome event on Friday. McCall was one of several potential surfers with Down syndrome learning from pros and experts near the Huntington Beach Pier.
Rex Hudler's Team Up for Down Syndrome, in conjunction with the International Surfing...

Edison High graduate Luke Gane, a student and member of the football team at UCLA, is one of four finalists for the 2012 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award. The other three finalists for the award, which first was awarded in 2009, are David Lerner of Florida, Rex Burkhead of Nebraska and Wayne Crawford of North Carolina St.
The winner will determined by online voting, which is open through Feb. 26. The award recipient will be honored Feb. 29 at the National Institutes of Health in...

"Oh, I almost forgot — we flew up to Sacramento to meet Gov. Brown, too."
So chuckled Ocean View Little League manager Jeff Pratto to me recently as we spoke about the head-spinning series of events that have rolled out in the wake of his team's recent Little League Baseball World Series championship.
Yes, there was just a thrilling seven-game major league contest between Texas and St. Louis. But here in Huntington Beach, Ocean View's feat is still the one people are talking about, and no doubt...

A pair of local professional baseball players, along with Toyota of Huntington Beach, is staging the Collin Balester-Hank Conger Golf Invitational Jan. 7 at Seacliff Country Club in Huntington Beach.
Both Balester (2004) and Conger (2006) are graduates of Huntington Beach High and were teammates on the Oilers' 2004 Sunset League championship team. Balester is playing with the Montreal Expos and Conger with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Other professional baseball players scheduled to golf in the...

I love talking to former Major League ballplayer and Angels' broadcaster Rex Hudler. "The Wonder Dog" as he is known, just always exudes so much enthusiasm and feel-good energy. He's energetic, spiritual, and seems to spend every waking moment trying to make a positive difference in this world.
Hudler, who now does color commentary for the Kansas City Royals, will be back here in Huntington Beach this weekend for the second annual "Surf's Up for Down Syndrome" Event on Saturday.
As you might recall...

It's a role sure to make other singer-dancers green with envy, that of Chistery, the head flying monkey in the musical smash hit "Wicked."
But for a young performer who lived in Huntington Beach, it's all part of a soaring career that also included a recent stint with the national company of another hit musical, "Cats."
KC Fredericks lived in Huntington Harbour while attending Orange Coast College just a couple of years ago, so when "Wicked" opens this week at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa...